Stephen G Anderson

Review of Suffolk Food Hall

As a vegan, my expectations when shopping in gener...

As a vegan, my expectations when shopping in general stores or eating out are always modest. Unfortunately, my expectations weren't met by the Suffolk Food Hall.

It was very disappointing when I visited on a Wednesday morning. Too little care taken seems to have been taken over quality of fresh produce on sale. The prices would have been acceptable if the fruit and veg had been fresh. But virtually all the veg was passed its best. The cauliflowers were turning, the mushrooms looked many days old, and so on. Even the locally grown turnips were soft.

I persevered, though, and decided to buy some bread. Because the bread had premium pricing, my expectations were high. The white loaf was acceptable, but no better than a Sainsbury's bloomer at under half the price. The sourdough was ... well, it had the consistency of the white loaf, not of sourdough, and it wasn't very sour at all.

Given the poor range of bread available, (and having been before when the range on offer was much greater) I've concluded that the place probably exists for weekends, which is when the fresh produce is put out for the throngs of shoppers.

It's not like a local version of London's Whole Foods Market that I was rather hoping for, but more like a larger version of those food shops tacked onto many garden centres selling overpriced 'value added' food items. So far, an opportunity missed.